Cold showers to kill off winter bugs and icy jabs to tackle prostate cancer: Why feeling chilly can be GOOD for your health

The winter blasts are far from gone, but don’t despair — research shows that icy temperatures can actually help keep you healthy

A bracing shower in the morning - where the body is not fully immersed - may actually be beneficial and help keep your immune system strong

ICE-COLD SHOWERS TO WARD OFF BEASTLY BUGS

Unless you are already desensitised to the cold, plunging into very cold water — as Eastern European ice swimmers do — can cause ‘cold shock’ which can kill in three to five minutes, by triggering a fatal erratic heartbeat, particularly in older or less healthy people.

But a bracing shower in the morning — where the body is not fully immersed — may actually be beneficial and help keep your immune system strong.

Research by Professor Vijay Kakkar, founder of the Thrombosis Research Institute in London, suggests cold water boosts the circulation and stimulates immune cell production.

The theory is that as the body tries to warm itself during and after a cold shower, the metabolic rate speeds up and activates the immune system, which leads to the release of more white blood cells, important for fighting off bugs.

This ties in with a previous German study, which found that people who showered for two minutes in cold water developed fewer colds than those who took a hot shower.

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FREEZING MASSAGES THAT BANISH YOUR PAIN

Ice massage, where ice is rubbed on to the skin, could be a good drug-free therapy for women about to give birth, according to a study published last year in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

Researchers in Iran looked at 90 pregnant women, divided into three groups.

One group received ice massages, another received acupressure alone and the third received a placebo.

Women who had ice massage experienced the greatest reduction in pain for the longest period of time.

Acupressure helped too, but the effect did not last as long.

Janet Fyle, nurse adviser at the Royal College of Midwives, says: ‘Ice massage can help women who want to have drug-free pain relief.

'But I wouldn’t put ice directly on a woman’s body as it could cause a burn.’

A form of acupuncture where ice is used instead of needles may also provide relief. Ice acupressure is a form of traditional Chinese medicine, where ice is applied to key points of the body — although evidence for how this might work is not clear, says Colin Paterson, a chartered physiotherapist and lecturer at Bournemouth University.

Still, the technique appears to alleviate pain in some people. Medical studies found it can ease low-back pain and even labour pains.

A 2005 study published in the journal Pain found it could reduce pain by a third. It seems effective in dentistry, too, cutting pain of abscesses and other acute problems by more than 50 per cent.

LEAVE YOUR WINDOWS OPEN TO HELP YOU SLEEP

Turning down the thermostat could mean you suffer fewer coughs and colds

Most of us like to snuggle up in temperatures of 21 degrees centigrade or more.

But turning down the thermostat could mean you suffer fewer coughs and colds.

It’s not that the cold is protective; cold weather helps preserve viruses, says John Oxford, professor of Virology at Barts and the Royal London Hospital.

‘But central heating dries out the air, which dries out moist membranes of the lung.

'This makes the body less able to fight viruses and other infections.’

Keeping a window open also creates air movement in the room, removing airborne viruses.

The bedroom should also be kept at a cooler temperature at night to aid restful sleep. The Sleep Council suggests keeping your bedroom at 16 to 18 degrees.

Our core body temperature is lowest at night, but in people with insomnia this temperature is raised, so a cool environment can help correct this problem. If the room is too cold, however, it can cause night-time restlessness.

ICE JABS CAN TREAT PROSTATE CANCER

Killing cancer cells by freezing and thawing them (cryotherapy) is a relatively new treatment for prostate cancer.

The technique — also called cryosurgery or cryoablation — involves sending cold gas via needles into the prostate gland.

The gas turns into ice balls that destroy the cancer. It tends to be used by patients who don’t want to undergo surgery to remove the prostate.

‘Cryosurgery can be used for men who have a recurrence of prostate cancer post-radiotherapy,’ says Christopher Eden, a consultant urologist based in Guildford.

‘It can also be used in men who are unsuitable for major surgery or radiotherapy.’ There are, however, no long-term studies to show its effectiveness.

BRACING BATHS TO GET OVER CHILDBIRTH

Developed by German naturopath, Louis Kuhne, in the 1880s, the cold sitz bath — a shallow bath that covers the hips but leaves the legs raised out of the water — is said to help alleviate a range of illnesses, particularly disorders of the anus and rectum, including piles and pain after childbirth.

In a 1986 study, 40 patients who had undergone episiotomy — a surgical cut to enlarge the birth canal — took cold and warm sitz baths picked at random.

Those who had cold sitz baths reported much less pain than the women who had hot sitz baths.

However, she says that midwives today would hesitate to recommend a cold bath for fear of adding to the trauma of an episiotomy.

HOW SPORTSMEN SHOULD COOL OFF

Physiotherapists and sportsmen and women have long known the healing effect of ice, but new evidence suggests it needs to be applied immediately.

Guidelines on treating acute sports injuries include applying ice to the area immediately for ten minutes to half an hour.

‘Evidence shows ice can dramatically reduce pain and inflammation, but it needs to be applied soon after the injury happens, for a period of time where it can cool the area enough to make a difference,’ says Colin Paterson.

Wait too long and inflammation and further tissue damage may have already occurred.

COLD PACKS TO HELP BEAT MIGRAINES

Various studies show that applying cold packs to the head can help to reduce pain.

In 2006, researchers in Turkey found patients treated with cold therapy alone had significantly reduced pain, compared to those who didn’t use cold packs.

The benefits of cold therapy were also shown to increase over time.

Migraines are thought to be caused by blood vessels suddenly narrowing and dilating, leading to excessive blood flow. Ice may help constrict the blood vessels which supply the brain.

WALK-IN FREEZER THAT EASES YOUR ACHES

Cryotherapy — where you spend a few minutes in a special ‘freezer’ — is a mainstream treatment in parts of Europe, prescribed by doctors to fight arthritis. It’s thought chemicals released during inflammation are greatly reduced after the treatment

In the UK, a handful of centres offer it. At the Cryotherapy Clinic at the BMI Garden Hospital, Hendon, it takes place in an eight-foot high pod and liquid nitrogen or super compressors chill the air to minus 80 to 90 degrees centigrade.

Patients stand during the treatment, which lasts up to five minutes.

They wear little clothing so the chilled air can cool the skin (the body’s core temperature doesn’t change), with socks and gloves to protect their extremities from frostbite, and a mask over the nose and mouth.

‘It’s not a cure, but it can help manage illness and improve quality of life,’ says sports scientist Iain Casey, who is overseeing a joint study with the NHS Whittington Trust into whether cryotherapy can aid recovery after knee surgery.